REMEMBER when we used to lie out in the sun for hours covered in coconut oil? If you can, you’re pre-skin cancer warnings now appear regularly on our TV and billboards. Slip, slop, slap is the message we’ve being given. But, with vitamin D deficiency more common, many people are also wondering if the sun protection message is affecting their health in other ways.
The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation is both the major cause of skin cancer and the best source of vitamin D, according to the Cancer Council Australia. “We need to balance the risk of skin cancer from too much sun exposure with maintaining adequate vitamin D levels,” it says. “Sensible sun protection does not put people at risk of vitamin D deficiency.”